International cooperation is now an indispensable and important element in the fight against infectious diseases. In the Republican Research & Practical Center for Epidemiology & Microbiology (RRPCEM), this activity is carried out in several directions.
Within the framework of international programs for the control of infectious diseases, the RRPCEM cooperates with the following international centers and organizations:
World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe)
The European Surveillance System (TESSy)
European Influenza Surveillance Scheme (EuroFlu)
Global Polio Eradication Initiative
International Programme for the Elimination of Measles and Rubella in the European Region
European Laboratory Working Group on Diphtheria (ELWGD) & Diphtheria Surveillance Network (DIPNET)
WHO Global Outbreak Communications Network
Interstate Coordination Council of the CIS on Hospital-Acquired Infections, Monitoring Of Antibiotic Resistance Of Microorganisms
Activities of National Reference Centers
Currently, on the basis of the RRPCEM, there are 8 national reference centers and reference laboratories, and 1 WHO regional laboratory:
National Centre on Influenza
National Reference Lab on Poliomyelitis
National Reference Lab on Measles and Rubella
Reference Centre on Antibiotic Antiseptics and Disinfectants Resistance of Clinical Significant Microorganisms
Republican Reference Lab on Invasive Bacterial Diseases
Republican Reference Lab on Gene Diagnosis of HIV-Infections & Parenteral Hepatitis B and C
Republican Reference Lab for Diagnosis of Intestinal Viral Infections & Environmental Virology
Republican Reference Lab for Diagnosis of Special Pathogens, Natural Focal & Emerging Infections
WHO Regional Lab on Rotaviral Infections
National reference centers and reference laboratories carry out scientific and methodological guidance on the implementation of epidemiological surveillance programs for relevant infections on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, they are WHO national correspondents.
The Regional Rotavirus Laboratory also cooperates with 7 countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine) and coordinates the activities of the national laboratories of these countries, which are part of the WHO Rotavirus Laboratory Network.
The RRPCEM is in constant cooperation with a number of foreign scientific organizations, in particular in the Russian Federation:
Central Research Institute of Epidemiology (Moscow) of the Federal Service on Customers' Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Surveillance of the Russian Federation (Rospotrebnadzor) – in the field of molecular diagnostics of infectious diseases, training on this problem and the joint production of immunobiological drugs;
The D.I. Ivanovskiy Institute of Virology (Moscow) of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation – on the control of natural focal, especially dangerous infectious diseases and HIV infection;
The Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza (St. Petersburg) of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation – on the problem of influenza and acute respiratory infections;
Russian Scientific Anti-Plague Institute “Microbe” (Saratov) of the Federal Service on Customers' Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Surveillance of the Russian Federation (Rospotrebnadzor) – on the training of specialists in the field of sanitary protection of the territory and improvement of laboratory diagnostics of dangerous infectious diseases.
in the Republic of Kazakhstan:
in the Republic of Azerbaijan:
in Ukraine:
Specialists of the RRPCEM regularly participate in scientific forums (conferences, seminars, meetings, internships) held in the near and far abroad.
Participation in international exhibitions held in the Republic of Belarus and abroad is a constant direction of international activity of the RRPCEM.
Information materials of the RRPCEM are annually placed in the catalog of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, distributed in all foreign trade missions of the Republic of Belarus. The advertisement was also placed in the “Export of Belarus” catalog of the National Center for Marketing, which is distributed at the National Exhibitions of the Republic of Belarus abroad.
On the basis of the RRPCEM, there is a National Contact Point responsible for the preparation and submission of reports on confidence-building measures in the framework of the implementation by the Republic of Belarus of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention – BTWC.
The RRPCEM is also involved in the implementation by the Republic of Belarus of its obligations to fulfill UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004), in terms of the biological sphere
On the basis of the RRPCEM there is “Specialized Collection of Viruses and Bacteria Pathogenic to Humans”, which the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus on December 14, 2012 № 1152 declared a scientific object, constituting the national heritage of the Republic of Belarus.
In 2019, the Collection was renamed into the “Republican Collection of Pathogenic BiologicaAagents” (Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus No. 924 dated December 27, 2019).
In addition to scientific research, this Collection cooperates with national collections of other countries and ensures the preparation of special permits of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus for cross-border movement (import/export/transit) of biological agents across the customs border of the Republic of Belarus.
Specialists of the RRPCEM are experts and members of the Coordination Council on the problems of sanitary protection of the territories of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States from the import and spread of especially dangerous infectious diseases and constantly take part in meetings of the CIS Executive Committee in this area.
International cooperation of the RRPCEM is carried out in other areas within the framework of the activities of the Customs Union, the Union State, the Eurasian Economic Union, and the CIS. In total, the RRPCEM cooperates with more than 30 countries of the near and far abroad.
